Samsung announces a bigger and lighter Galaxy Note 3: Gone is the cheap plactic back finish

Just as we expected Samsung has introduced the Galaxy Note 3 to the world today at Berlin’s IFA trade show in the usual Samsung style . The Galaxy Note 3 doesnt divert away from Samsung’s charm: the Super AMOLED display is bigger than that of the Note II to 5.7 inches, with an outrageous 3GB of RAM and a 2.3GHz quad-core processor, raises the camera resolution to 13 megapixels, all packed in a thinner 8.3mm thick shell and weighing 168g.

Samsung has managed to hide the gross plastic back cover with faux leather on the outside. For me its a very big plus and a good step in Samsung’s design. Even the fake stitching detail doesn’t look too bad. Just like the Galaxy S4, the sides of the Note 3 have been given a metallic look, though they too are plastic. Ergonomics for such a large device remain very good.

The new features on the software front is called Air Command. This menu pops up any time you remove the S Pen from its silo, and can also be brought up by hovering the stylus above the display and clicking its built-in button. From the Air Command launcher,
you can access all the central S Pen features — dubbed Action Memos, Pen Window, S Finder, and Scrapbook. (More s-features seriously?)

The Note 3 also introduces a new My Magazine interface for your daily does of content updates. This can be seen as Samsung’s own take on Flipboard and HTC’s BlinkFeed. You will be able to access it by swiping up from the bottom of the home screen, the usual Samsung Gimmicky way.

When you look at the Note 3 you could not differentiate it from the Note 2, but Samsung has made a number of elusive and almost universally positive changes. Firstly, the S Pen is now symmetrical, so you can tuck it into its slot without having to have it “the right way up.”

Improving Software UX

Taking the new physical shape and S Pen together with the software tweaks, the Galaxy Note 3 is Samsung’s best attempt yet at making touch input optional on a mobile device. The S Pen quickly starts to feel like a natural way to interact
with the large screen.

The Galaxy Note 3 will be available globally by the end of this year. The processor inside will vary with territory; the Note 3 will be made with both Exynos and Qualcomm 4G capable processors.